Twitter job cuts: is this how a new boss should make their mark?

We spoke earlier on this week about how leaders will try to make a stamp on a company early into their tenure, to show that they are willing to make big calls and take control of the business. With new Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announcing plans to cut over 300 jobs, will the bold decision be applauded as a necessity or seen as a desperate move?

Twitter has had a turbulent couple of months, with former CEO Dick Costolo stepping down in July after criticisms that Twitter was not growing at its expected rate. The problem is that the company – despite approaching its 10th year – has failed to turn a profit, with reported losses of £372m in 2014 alone. The user growth has also began to peter off, with a relatively small 12% growth during 2014/2015, suggesting that Twitter needs to change to appeal to a wider demographic.

With Dorsey now back at the helm, he’s made the bold move to announce that he will be cutting 336 jobs, which is approximately 8% of his current workforce. It’s not a surprising move – research has suggested that most new CEOs decide on who will stay and who will go within their first 60 days – even if they have told the public that they are taking their time. But when a company is facing financial turmoil, they simple cannot take their time.

The move has received criticism that this is a last resort move by Dorsey, with research analyst Richard Windsor stating that it suggests that Twitter is a “company that does not know what else to do”. Job cuts are always a factor within any business, but when they are nearly a tenth of such a large workforce, it leads to concerns that this is a move of desperation more than great leadership.

We said about how important it was for Twitter to have a long-term management plan earlier on in the year, but this move by Dorsey would suggest quite the opposite. With an ever-increasing pressure on the company to turn a profit, Twitter’s ten-year anniversary next March could be a make or break milestone. Will the firings help spearhead profit for the company, or will the new CEOs decision be the final nail in the coffin? Only time will tell.

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